When they emerge from the molding together of imprints of fingers and there is left a tiny smudge of clay that claws for either parent, and all they can is throw it in each other's faces. This is heartbreak.

This work should be stop motion canon, the amount of detail on the models and animation technique is astonishing. The metaphorical layers of shared and individual meaning one has the freedom to find in this short, and the universal theme of human communication, make it timelessly relevant. It even gets a bit disturbing, evoking a more visceral (and not only intellectual) reaction. Incredible work in every aspect.

10 - Now that animation is so incredibly accessible to everyone, it is of particular importance that aspirants to the art form imbibe these little gems; films that use this unique medium to give form and fluidity to complex concepts (in this case with a wonderful, singular stylistic flourish) instead of using it as a cinematic crutch in lieu of a budget, or exclusively for pomp/grandiosity with an inflated one.

A study of human dialogue through absurdity...filmed/sculpted through a series of molds...it satirizes the idea of how we constantly break ourselves through dialogue (argumentative, passionate, and factual) . Svankmajer to his advantages is able portray communication, both technical and disgusting artistry. A surreal film in its greatest form. Inspired by the works of Archimboldo.

3.6 stars. I know many people consider this Švankmajer's masterpiece, but I find it a little too schematic for that. However the irrational meeting of objects in the third part is ingenious since it exposes the strange dream logic that always already undergirds utilitarianism! Also, it feels political without ever being possible to tie down to a single stable political reading. The best intro to Švankmajer's work!

Impeccably detailed animation and a deeply accurate, beautiful, and heartbreaking depiction of dialogue's aspects that mix with each other, form barriers, and sometimes simply prevents you to be understood properly.